This summer, author Douglas Coupland met Rem Koolhaas in Paris. Together they traveled to Lille and then through Belgium and on to Rotterdam and Amsterdam. As they went, Coupland kept these alphabetized travel notes.

AlbanyWhy are we afraid to dynamite our disasters? Is it not possible to retrofit this Cartesian gulag into something a bit more hip? Can it be Blade-Runner-ized?

Belgium (1)The world’s first drive-thru nation.

Belgium (2)Tintin comes from Belgium. He has no history or religion or parents or politics or fixed residence or class identity. He’s a role model for the 21st century.

BrasíliaCartel Modernism.

BraunSee Moulinex Modernism.

Collapse of IdeologyEurope has had a harder time with the collapse of ideology than North America. “Total global consumer democracy” has never been a heretical thought in North America.

Computer CodeAs everyone’s too poor to put up new buildings,

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